


a tale as old as time

by ElasticElla



Category: Queen Sugar (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 02:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9300704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElasticElla/pseuds/ElasticElla
Summary: “I owe you a date,” is the first thing Charley says when Remy picks up.





	

**Author's Note:**

> title from beauty and the beast +a in front since it was stuck in my head while writing

“I owe you a date,” is the first thing Charley says when Remy picks up. 

He sighs, and Charley stops herself from talking. Conversations move like molasses down here, and her usual speed always seems to make things worse. 

“You owe me answers,” Remy finally says. 

“I do-” she starts. 

“No, you _owed_ me answers last week,” he corrects. “You keep everyone else in the dark Charley. I was a foo- I didn't think that included me.”

“Let me-” she tries. 

“Explain?” he finishes, and she can see the wry smile through the phone. “So I can be caught up in you again? Charley, you could make the devil himself sympathize.” 

Charley closes her eyes. This isn't going anything like she imagined. She knew he was mad, but- hell she thought a heavier L.A. apology with dinner and wine and words would fix it. 

“What can I do?” she tries, ready for anything he says.

“Time. Just give me time,” he says, and Charley's barely got a quiet _okay_ out before he's hanging up. 

Nearly anything. 

.

Micah, for once, is the easy apology. 

“You don't have to forgive him. But he is your father and if you ever change your mind, I want him to be close.”

His eyes flick to her bare left hand, and he nods, “You didn't. The diner…”

Charley swallows, “No baby, I didn't. We're still getting divorced.” 

“Okay,” Micah says, and he looks too old in that moment, too ready to take on the world. 

“Go get washed up, Keke and her pops are coming over for dinner.” 

And Micah lights up, looks fifteen again. 

.

Charley can admit this whole thing is new for her. Davis wooed the hell out of a younger her, and throughout their marriage- and now it makes her feel queasy to think about the why. Back then it was just her sweet husband returning from an away game, from-

It doesn't matter. The point is, Charley has never wooed someone. Manipulate? Sure, that's easy. Find the right gift that isn't too ostentatious or impersonal or sending the wrong message some other way she hasn't even thought of? Brand new territory- and she hates uncertainty. 

Her initial idea, the first bag of his sugar milled, won't even be possible for another six months. The next one, a copy of her divorce papers, feels crass given his late wife and the lawyers expect the split to take even longer than the mill repair. 

It's already been two weeks though. Remy isn't giving her the silent treatment, it's almost worse, the not-quite-distant platonic treatment. It's a reminder that he's been hurt before, and god, Charley can't remember why she didn't tell him in the first place. (Because it might not have worked. Because she didn't want Remy to know what kind of person she really was, how far she'd go to _win_. Because she can donate a million in Melina's name, but she'll never fix what she did. But the beast got the beauty in the end, right? The rest doesn't matter.)

A home cooked meal could fix near anything, her grandma used to say. And sure, Charley's cheating a bit with one of Vi's peach cobblers, but the chicken noodle soup is all hers. 

She's has a simple blue dress, and her hair is in a simple braid, and she knows the image she's presenting. A taste of a different future never hurt no one. Taking a breath, she knocks. 

Footsteps and then, Remy appears, cracking the door. He looks down at the basket she carries, doesn't quite sigh. “I take it Ra isn't coming?” 

“No.”

“And you didn't just ask me-”

“You would have said no, and you haven't been answering your phone.” 

“That was for a reason,” Remy says, but he opens the door all the same. 

“Thank you,” Charley says, heading towards his kitchen. 

She already has the broth boiling, and the oven heating up when Remy joins her. He takes one look at the cobbler and snorts. 

“Hey, I did make the soup.” 

“Mhmm,” he says, leaning on the counter. 

Charley hands him a bottle of Chardonnay, “I did.” 

“Really Ms we have cooks and butlers for that?” 

“There's only two types of dishes I can make,” she admits. “Soups and stews.” 

“I didn't realize there was a difference.” 

“Stews are much thicker, heavier. Chicken noodle soup was the first thing I learned how to make, for when Micah got sick.” 

“I know,” she adds at his look, “very cliché.” 

Remy's smile is softer than she's seen in weeks as he shakes his head. “I was going to say sweet.” 

“Listen the whole Davis thing was-”

“-for the mill?” Remy finishes, and Charley blinks. 

“Yeah.” 

He shrugs, “It wasn't hard to put together after. Why didn't you just tell me?” 

Charley swallows, stirring the broth, “I didn't want you to see me like that. Ruthless.” 

It's a far gentler word than most that come to mind, but Remy still frowns. 

“So whatever this is, you thought I don't need to know you?” 

“No!” Charley exclaims, pouring the egg noodles into the boiling pot. “I- You make me want to be a better person. And I thought it'd just be this last thing, and then everything would be good.” 

Remy laughs, coming around the counter. “You know farming is a full-time job, milling ain't that different.” 

Charley's ears burn, and she says, “Nothing big though. Nothing I'd need to gear up for, or threaten or blackmail for.” 

Remy's hands are warm on her hips, and it takes everything not to turn around into his arms. The soup's a moment from done though, and she isn't going to mess up his _please date me_ meal. 

“No secrets,” he says, and Charley takes the soup off the burner, turning as quick as she can. Remy smiles down at her, “If we're doing this, for real, no secrets.” 

Charley quickly nods, “Yes.”

Leaning up on her toes, she kisses him softly. “Thanks for giving me another chance.” 

“You're lucky these L.A. non-apologies smell so good,” Remy says. 

“I'm sorry!” Charley says quickly, can't believe she forgot the most important part. “I'm sorry I didn't trust you more.” 

“Alright. Let's eat before it goes cold.” Remy says, and just like that, her world shifts back into place.


End file.
